CKE: Announces Expansion in New Zealand

Carpinteria / CA. (cke) CKE Restaurants Inc. announced a partnership with Restaurant Brands New Zealand Limited to build and operate Carl´s Jr. restaurants in New Zealand, adding to Restaurant Brands´ current stable of KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks Coffee businesses.

Under the terms of the development agreement with CKE, Restaurant Brands has the exclusive development rights to build restaurants in New Zealand, complementing the existing franchisee Forsgren NZ Limited´s development rights to build a limited number of restaurants in Auckland. Restaurant Brands is familiar with these shared arrangements working with independent franchisees in its other brands.

Restaurant Brands plans to open its first Carl´s Jr. restaurant by mid-year 2012 with additional restaurant openings targeted by the end of their next financial year.

CKE´s restaurant network has expanded to 3’219 restaurants with annual sales of 3,4 billion USD. CKE continues to place a major emphasis on expanding its international operations, with more than 400 restaurants in Mexico, the Middle East, Asia, Russia and Latin America.